Ask an agent: Megan Carroll of Watson, Little

Want to get your manuscript noticed by publishing professionals? In WriteMentor’s new blog series, we invite leading literary agents to answer quick-fire questions about publishing and submissions, to give children’s writers insights and advice about the querying process.

Megan Carroll of Watson, Little shares her insights.

Current hot publishing trend…

Megan: Romance! I’m finding that readers and editors are looking for sweeping love stories to escape into and this is definitely trickling into to the YA and teen space even more. In general, that sense of escapism is really popular at the moment. 

Submission turn on…

Megan: A really impactful pitch, that’s short and sharp with brilliant and interesting comps that really give me pause and make me want to read on. I am a sucker for a comp that uses a film or TV series, as well as a book.

Submission turn off…

Megan: Authors that don’t read around their genre/age group – it’s essential and when you’re not doing that it really comes through in how you position your book (MG novels are not likely to be 10,000 words…) and in the comps that you use too.

Current children’s read…

Megan: I recently read Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach and loved it, and more recently As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson – what a brilliant trilogy that is. Next on my list is Kelly Yang’s Front Desk, which I’m so looking forward to.

Biggest submission wish…

Megan: I’d love to find a YA romance that really makes me swoon, especially if it’s coming from a writer that’s underrepresented and also a truly funny female voice in MG – I’ve been desperate to find that for a while.

Megan Carroll, Watson, Little

Megan graduated from Goldsmiths with a BA in English and American Literature in 2013 and worked as an intern at Watson, Little and Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency before returning to the agency as the assistant in July 2014. She is now a Literary Agent and is building her own list.

Megan is looking for writers in a variety of areas, and from a wide range of backgrounds – she is particularly keen to hear from Black, Asian, and LGBTQIA+ writers. Her main areas of focus this year are adult fiction and non-fiction, as well as non-fiction for 7+, and Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction.

Twitter: @MeganACarroll

SUBMIT YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO MEGAN